‘Lone Survivor’ Takes Top Slot at Box Office

Realistic military heroism turned out to be just what the country wanted this weekend, as “Lone Survivor” dominated the box office with a surprisingly strong $38.9 million.

The true life story of former Navy SEAL Marcus Lutrell, who lost his entire squad on a mission in Afghanistan, performed far better than most people in Hollywood had expected based on pre-release surveys.

Mr. Lutrell was played by Mark Wahlberg, who also produced the movie, and “Lone Survivor” was directed by Peter Berg, whose last movie was “Battleship,” one of the more infamous flops of recent years.

Despite some harrowing battle scenes, audiences embraced the movie, grading it an A+ according to market research firm CinemaScore. The movie played well nation-wide but did unusually well in Texas, where Mr. Lutrell is from, said Nikki Rocco, president of domestic distribution for Comcast Corp.’s Universal.

Its only weak markets, she noted, were in Canada.

Universal was originally set to produce “Lone Survivor,” but instead struck a deal for Emmett/Furla Films to finance the movie for close to $50 million. The independent company is thus set to make much of the expected profits, though Universal receives a share of revenue for its distribution services.

Also opening this weekend was a new version of “The Legend of Hercules,” starring Kellan Lutz, which flopped with a weak $8.6 million debut. It was financed by Millennium Entertainment and released by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.’s Summit Entertainment. A Summit spokesman declined to comment.

Warner Bros. expanded the well reviewed science-fiction/romance “Her,” starring Joaquin Phoenix, nation-wide to a soft $5.4 million. But Jeff Goldstein, executive vice president of distribution, said he was still optimistic word of mouth would help propel the movie, which was directed by Spike Jonze and financed by Annapurna Pictures.

The ensemble drama “August: Osage Country,” starring Meryl Streep, also expanded nation-wide and collected a slightly better $7.3 million. While “Her” performed best in big coastal cities, Weinstein Co. distribution president Erik Lomis noted that “August” did surprisingly well in Midwestern markets including Columbus, Ohio and Milwaukee, Wis.

Walt Disney Co.’s animated “Frozen” continued to perform well, taking in $15 million on its seventh weekend playing nation-wide. The princess musical was No. 2 at the box office and has now grossed $317 million domestically.

Overseas, Universal animated “Despicable Me 2” debuted in China to a strong $13.2 million. That’s particularly notable given that “Despicable Me 2” opened in the U.S. last July. Due to piracy, movies that open much later in China than elsewhere in the world often struggle.